Everything You Need to Know About Using Video in Social Marketing [Infographic]
We often hear how engaging videos are on social media – but there’s certainly a trick to getting it right for your audience. This infographic shows highlights from a recent study from Animoto, where 1,000 consumers sounded off on what they wanted to see. MarketingProfs

2017 Google Consumer Confidence Report
Digital Examiner recently conducted a survey to determine how much consumers trust the information they are served in Google search results. The trust for Google remains high despite recent commentary surrounding alleged biases, with 72% of consumers saying they trust search results. Digital Examiner

How Content Influences the Purchasing Process: Tips for Content Marketers [Research]
CMI and SmartBrief teamed up to create new research that reveals how content influences the purchasing process. The research found that 81% of buyers say they conduct their own research before bringing in a vendor, and 62% wanted content that speaks to their needs and pain points. You can read more analysis of the study on the TopRank Marketing blog. Content Marketing Institute

The Remarkable Rise of Influencer Marketing [Infographic]
In an effort to understand the current state of influencer marketing, Influencer Marketing Hub conducted an online survey. They report: “The results are definitely optimistic, indicating that influencer marketing is truly mainstream, on an upwards trajectory as a preferred method of marketing.” Influencer Marketing Hub

Google Said to Offer Publishers A New YouTube Deal
AdAge reports: “[YouTube] is offering major publishers who choose its backend video player the ability to control ad sales both on their sites and on YouTube, according to people familiar with the new offering.” AdAge

Twitter Is Testing a Feature That Lets Brands Automate Their Promoted Tweets
Twitter is beta testing a program for brands that will allow them to automatically promote their Tweets. The targeting options are limited, and the platform will choose which Tweets to sponsor on behalf of the brand. This new program costs $99 per month for those interested. AdWeek

Facebook will Rank Links to Slow-loading Pages Lower in People’s News Feeds
For brands with a slow website, the past few years have been pretty tough. Now, Facebook joins in on the movement toward better UX by tweaking its news feed algorithm to penalize links to slow-loading websites. Marketing Land

What were your top digital marketing news stories this week?

We’ll be back next week with more top digital marketing news! As always, if you need more in the meantime follow @toprank on Twitter or subscribe to the TopRank Marketing blog for daily insights to your inbox.